Murray Fights Hard For Klizan Win
World No. 1 Andy Murray fought hard to avoid at Roland Garros on Thursday when he knocked out the Slovakian Martin Klizan 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) for a place in the third round.
Murray recovered from a 1-4 deficit in the fourth set against No. 50-ranked Klizan, who competed with strapping on his left calf, and last year’s finalist will next face Argentine No. 29 seed Juan Martin del Potro.
"In my opinion Juan Martin plays better than what his ranking is,” said Murray. “He’s come back from injuries and he’s had a lot of tough draws this year. I think he’s played Novak a couple of times. He’s played a lot of top 10 players very early in the tournament. But he’s playing well this year and it will be a tough match.”
Murray leads del Potro 6-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, with Murray winning the gold medal match at last year’s Rio Olympic Games before del Potro won a five-set Davis Cup semi-final rubber.
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Klizan, a player Murray had described as “unpredictable”, started off strongly, moving to a 5-3 lead courtesy of a service break in the third game. Murray regrouped and from 2-2 in the second set broke Klizan’s serve in four out of five service games to take control. World No. 50 Klizan capitalised on a dip in his opponent’s level and raced to a 5-2 lead in the fourth set. But Murray broke back taking the set to a tie-break and he closed out 18th match win of the season with a scrambled backhand volley.
“I expected it to be very tough,” said Murray. “He goes for huge shots. He can hit forehand winners from anywhere on the court. Sometimes you think you’ve hit a good shot and he comes up with unbelievable power from very defensive positions and makes winners. It’s very tough.
“I tried to play a solid match and as the match went on I started to hit the ball a little bit deeper and was able to dictate more of the points. But when he’s controlling with his forehand it’s very difficult.”
The 30-year-old Murray is now two match wins from the 650 victories milestone.
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